Artist Creates Wildly Realistic Animals Out of Pipe Cleaners

As children, many of us gleefully used pipe cleaners during arts and crafts, but really, whatever we were up to tended to lean more towards the craft side than any sort of art. Lauren Ryan, on the other hand, is seriously taking pipe cleaners to the art side.

Using the fuzzy wired strips primarily in natural tones, the artist is creating animals that are breathtakingly realistic.

Focusing mostly on various dog-like animals like wolves, coyotes, and foxes, Ryan has also brought to life a cheetah, an okapi, and even a lizard.

“I use a technique that’s somewhere between weaving, sewing and tying annoyingly complicated knots,” Lauren said to Who’d Have Thought, explaining that she’s worked out her process in a self-taught manner. “I never focused much on practicing art to get better at it; art was just something I did because I loved it.”

You can see more of Lauren Ryan’s pipe cleaner animal art on her Facebook page.